ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) employees’ strike and the suspension of flight operations entered its fifth day on Saturday, affecting PIA passengers at home and abroad.

Currently, over 2,000 are Pakistanis stranded in Jeddah due to the suspension of flights, and neither the government nor PIA itself have approached them since providing them with residence at a local hotel in the city.

Many of these passengers are particularly worried because their visas will expire in two days time. “We fear that the Saudi police will arrest us on charges of visa expiry, as most people’s visas will expire in a week, or three or four days,” Usman Qureshi, a Pakistani stranded in Jeddah, told Dawn over telephone.

He said he had been stranded in Jeddah for three days, and hadn’t heard a response from PIA officials or the Pakistan embassy in Saudi Arabia.

“My flight, PK-7135, was scheduled to leave Jeddah on February 4, but flight operations were suspended. PIA brought me and my family, and 160 others, to a local hotel where 500 Pakistanis were already staying. Food is served three times a day, but people have to sleep in the hotel lounge because the rooms are limited,” he said.

Mohammad Zia said he came from Multan, and his flight to Multan – PK-736 – was cancelled two days ago. He too said people have been sleeping in the hotel lounge. “We are living in miserable conditions, the men are staying in the hotel lounge because all the rooms are occupied,” he said.

He said they had received no information regarding the next flight, and PIA officials had not come to the hotel or tried to contact the passengers in Jeddah. Mr Zia said 500 more passengers arrived at the hotel from Medina on Saturday, despite limited space.

“The PIA officials took our tickets and passports, so it’s difficult for us to arrange tickets on other airlines to come back home,” Mohammad Adnan, who is also stranded in Jeddah, said.

He said it was also difficult to leave the hotel, as people could be arrested by local police for not carrying their passports. He said most people are concerned about their security in the absence of their passports.

Ijaz Ahmed said he too did not have his passport, and said that the Pakistani embassy should send officials to meet with the passengers stranded in Jeddah and see the problems they are facing.

PIA spokesperson Daniyal Gilani confirmed that over 2,500 Pakistanis who had travelled to Saudi Arabia for Umrah were in Jeddah. He said the airline had made arrangements to fly them back home on Saudi Airlines.

“We brought back 700 Pakistanis, and the remaining people will be brought back in a day or two. We provided them food and residence free of cost,” he said.

He said there were limited officials in Saudi Arabia, and it would be difficult for the officials that are there to meet with the passengers. However, he added that efforts were being made to resolve their problems.

He said this is a difficult time for the airline, as flight operations are suspended and the government is trying to resolve the problems facing international and domestic passengers. He said the airline has suffered financial losses during this period.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2016

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